The Wolf of Wall Street

The films "Goodfellas" and "Wall Street" came up in conversation constantly alongside Martin Scorsese’s "Wolf of Wall Street" when it was released last Christmas, as if "Wolf" itself were just an amalgam of the two. Scorsese’s intentionally bloated, acidic, boys-behaving-badly comedy was much closer in tone and intent to another 80s-set classic than it was to "Goodfellas" or "Street," though, despite superficial similarities to those two pictures. The true companion piece to "Wolf of Wall Street", if there is one, is "Scarface."

Like "Scarface," Scorsese’s film is bursting at the seams, detailing the horrible, awful, excessive behavior of its characters for almost 3 hours. Like "Scarface," it amps up the presentation of those actions - check out the "Citizen Kane"-esque marching band sequence in "Wolf" - until they’re divorced from reality, making them more opera than human experience. Like "Scarface," "Wolf of Wall Street" is a film as excessive as the characters it depicts. Like "Scarface," "Wolf" lives, dies, and thrives on its own too-much-ness.

Paramount’s Blu-ray release of the film, unfortunately, is anything but excessive. Despite rumors of an extended cut - and confirmation that more than an hour was cut from the first cut of the movie - there’s only one special feature included on this disc, and it doesn’t afford viewers any deleted footage. That special feature, entitled "The Wolf Pack," gives viewers about 15 minutes worth of behind-the-scenes footage, cast and crew interviews. But it’s unfortunately lacking in insight: "Wolf Pack" is more of a promotional video than it is a documentary. It’s not an infomercial - but it comes close.

Yet, are extras like an extended cut or deleted scenes even necessary? "The Wolf of Wall Street" - with its gargantuan running time and its pushing-the-boundaries-of-the-R-rating hijinks - is a movie that’s all about its own excesses. You don’t need any more footage. The movie is already, by design, too much.